This is the entirety of the Primordial World: The Green Snake Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality narrative translated into English.
The myriad Daos included the Heavenly Dao of Hongjun, the Demonic Dao of Luohu, and the Daos of the three tribes.
In other words, within this Fengdu City, he was a being comparable to Luohu and Hongjun.
Fengdu City was not a city, but a great thousand world, the origin and breeding ground of all ghosts, capable of nurturing endless spirits.
It was also a city, a city in the Netherworld.
Before Fengdu City emerged, the Netherworld could not be called the Netherworld, for there was no realm within the underworld. After its emergence, there was a realm within the underworld, and it could be called the Netherworld.
Qing Ling walked into this ancient city, becoming the first living being to enter. The ghost cultivators retreated one after another, for his aura of life was too strong.
Shi Tian Zhizun cupped his hands in a salute and said, "Thank you, fellow Daoist, for bestowing upon me the opportunity for the Great Dao!"
Qing Ling also returned the salute and said with a smile, "I also thank you, fellow Daoist, for your help with the Earthly Dao. Now you are truly a free agent. No matter how much trouble you cause in the Primordial World, as long as you flee to Fengdu City, no one will be able to do anything to you."
Shi Tian Zhizun laughed heartily, "Then won't I become Xuan Gui's turtle shell?"
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"Now, I don't plan to venture out and cause a stir anymore," Shi Tian Zhizun said seriously. "The immediate priority is to completely control the ghost path and consolidate my cultivation. After all, outside of Fengdu City, I am merely a mighty being of the twenty-first heaven. I can't even defeat that sly old fox, Jiu Xuan."
Qing Ling nodded and said, "Then this Netherworld will need your continued care. I will have Daoist Qing Xuan remain here to guard it, to prevent any ill-intentioned individuals from disturbing it."
"Rest assured, with me here in the Netherworld, there are very few in the Primordial World who dare to cause trouble now," Shi Tian Zhizun almost patted his chest to guarantee it.
Qing Ling left the Netherworld. Qing Xuan Daoist sat beside the Three-Life Stone, at the confluence of three rivers, cultivating in peace. His derived Dao shared a symbiotic connection with the Three-Life Stone, making cultivation here twice as effective with half the effort.
Qing Ling, however, did not return to Dugguang. Instead, he headed towards Buzhou. His purpose was for Taiyin, and even more so for the Dao of Time. The Dao of Time was of great importance and should be pursued sooner rather than later, not only for cultivation but also for the authority of heaven and earth.
Shi Tian Zhizun had told him the method to find the Yanggu where the Fusang Divine Wood was located. Qing Ling had already decided that he must cultivate the Dao of Time. The connection between his future self and his main body was profound and mysterious, as if they were one. If he could master the Dao of Time, he could even use the great technique of time flow to graft the magical power of his future self onto his main body. This way, he would be equivalent to having two Dao bodies cultivating one Dao, achieving speeds far exceeding others. This alone was a reason why he had to comprehend the Dao of Time.
To ascend to Taiyin, one must climb Buzhou. In the rift of the twenty-eighth heaven, there was a viewpoint for observing the universe and galaxies. Only from there could one directly enter the star belt. Qing Ling did not know if he could climb the twenty-eighth stage of Buzhou, but he had to try his best. Descending a mountain was easy; climbing it was hard. He wondered if Taiyi, when he descended to the Primordial World with a split consciousness, had not also endured numerous hardships.
Qing Ling ascended Buzhou once more. However, this time, as his foot touched the soil of Buzhou, he could no longer feel the immense pressure. He was greatly astonished and took out his Azure Jade Umbrella, opening it slowly and walking with it. The Azure Jade Umbrella was a branch of the Creation Azure Lotus, and since Great God Pangu was nurtured by the Creation Azure Lotus, it naturally felt a great affinity for it. Therefore, Qing Ling, holding the umbrella, walked with unprecedented ease. However, out of respect, he climbed step by step, without using any divine abilities for displacement. He ascended like a mortal.
Day after day, he climbed. He would ascend with the sunrise and rest at sunset. Whenever the moon hung high in the sky, Qing Ling would sit cross-legged and draw in the Taiyin moon essence. Even with his great power as a worldly being, it would take a hundred years to gather even a single thread of time. The time he used before was merely at the level of methods and divine abilities, not entering the Dao, and thus was superficial. To go further would only lead to the realm of minor Daos, and his path would be blocked here. As he did not primarily cultivate Taiyin, he could not break through the minor Dao and merge it into the Great Dao.
Qing Ling walked daily, and breathed in the moon essence daily. The moon essence gradually accumulated within his body, thickening until it became a pool of moon essence dew. Its effect was comparable to Emperor Flow Nectar, capable of awakening wisdom and imbuing great spiritual energy. However, this drop of Taiyin Crystal Dew was far superior to Emperor Flow Nectar, as it was formed from the hundred years of arduous cultivation of moon essence by a great worldly being. Drop after drop of Taiyin Crystal Dew accumulated. The higher Qing Ling climbed, the more he accumulated.
Days, years, centuries, millennia, ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years, a Yuanhui... It took a full two Yuanhui for Qing Ling to reach the height of the third heaven. However, the Taiyin Crystal Dew within his body was on the verge of a qualitative transformation.
On this day, it was a full moon night, a sight rarely seen in ten thousand years, extremely Yin. Qing Ling had already been sitting cross-legged, bathing in the moonlight. His green robe seemed to turn white, making Qing Ling appear even more aloof and pure. Three feet above Qing Ling's head, a stream of water, as thick as a thumb, was playfully called the Taiyin Dew River, rotating around the moon in its path.
The celestial moon essence grew increasingly potent. Pure white moonlight poured down from billions of miles high, cascading onto the body of Buzhou. The divine light was vast and boundless, and the world of Buzhou transformed into a dark white world, like a lake suspended in the sky. Qing Ling sat cross-legged, as if sitting on the surface of the moon lake. The Taiyin Dew River above his head, though slender, transformed into a snake and plunged into this pool of water, greedily absorbing the moon essence.
The Taiyin Dew River gradually expanded. The light of the moon essence shone upon Qing Ling's primordial spirit above his head. The primordial spirit, a tiny figure, descended from above his head and walked step by step across the moon lake. The water of the moon lake rippled beneath his feet, creating ripples of water and ripples of light. As the ripples of light arose, the primordial spirit felt an all-encompassing chill. Even though he was the master of the Earthly Dao, protected by the great Yin Dao, he was still covered in frost in the face of the Taiyin essence.
Yet, the primordial spirit still walked forward step by step, towards the source of the moonlight. Simultaneously, the lake of moon essence was gradually absorbed by the Taiyin Dew River. The river flowed with a gurgling sound. The Daoist beneath the moon, the tranquil lake beneath the moon, everything fell into a state of stillness. Only the small figure's steps were silent, the water's movement was silent. This was the world of Taiyin.
Under the omnipresent Taiyin, after walking thirteen thousand steps, the primordial spirit could no longer move and was frozen in place. The figure rapidly retreated, returning to the warmth of the physical body, dispelling the frost, and returning to the Dao body. Qing Ling stood up and beckoned. The now grown Taiyin Dew River flew back, coiling around his body like a white python. Qing Ling raised his head. The moon essence poured onto his collarbone. His three thousand strands of hair fell down. The white python coiled around him, the power of Taiyin enfolded him. Yet, pure threads of time still did not manifest. Qing Ling sighed. The moon essence in the sky also reached its time and gradually receded. The Taiyin Dew River retracted, transforming back into a small white snake, which he put into his sleeve.
If it doesn't work once, then a second time, a third time... As the sun rose in the east, Qing Ling once again embarked on his journey. On Mount Buzhou, there was only earth and stone, devoid of life or spirit. If you saw anything other than earth and stone, it was certainly a treasure! Perhaps there were truly many spiritual treasures on Mount Buzhou, but Qing Ling had no affinity with them. He traveled along, not encountering any trace of spiritual light. He walked on Mount Buzhou for five Yuanhui, gradually growing accustomed to it, his desire for treasures slowly calming, his heart becoming like a white jade plate.
In five Yuanhui, sixty-four thousand five hundred years, over two hundred and thirty-five million nights of his heart facing the moon, his spirit touching Yin, his heart had already become like the moon. In his journey, two hundred million times of eye contact, two hundred million times of contemplation, two hundred million times of questioning the moon, though he did not obtain a moon, he had created a round moon within his own heart. In five Yuanhui, he ascended to the eleventh heaven. His cultivation had not improved much, but the small white snake in his sleeve had transformed into a colossal python, a river of a thousand feet of moon, capable of traversing the void. The enormous river was filled with moon essence, and within the river of moon essence, there was Taiyin. Yet, not a single thread of time had manifested. How difficult was the Dao of Time to seek?
Qing Ling still did not slacken, continuing to walk towards the heavens step by step. His feet had traversed nineteen hundred and sixty million stones, his legs raised and lowered trillions of times. The Daoist walking the Dao, the ages remained as the beginning. The Divine Mountain Buzhou, though lacking intellect, possessed spirit. With each landing of his sole in trillions of steps, he was touching the body of Mount Buzhou, from the surface to the blood, through the bones, into the core.
On this day, it was the tenth Yuanhui since he began climbing Buzhou. Qing Ling ascended to the height of the twenty-third heaven. On Mount Buzhou, he walked faster and faster, farther and farther. The interval between each step he raised and then lowered gradually increased. Qing Ling did not use divine abilities, but this was a divine ability bestowed by Buzhou. From stepping three feet at a time, to stepping one zhang at a time, trillions of accumulated steps gradually grew into steps of ten thousand miles, then a million miles, as if distance and the heavens were one, the bright moon before him, the steps empty beneath.
In the eleventh Yuanhui, he ascended to the height of the twenty-eighth heaven. On Mount Buzhou, he had left behind an unrecordable number of imprints. Each imprint was a footprint, though shallow and almost imperceptible, but the accumulation of an infinite quantity became greatness! Mount Buzhou bestowed upon him a divine ability, a gift from heaven and earth, not one he comprehended and learned after the fact. Distance and the heavens were but a step away. If one could cross Buzhou, what place in the world could they not reach?
At the end of the twenty-eighth heaven, after eleven Yuanhui, Qing Ling looked up at the sky for the first time. Stars blazed with cosmic dust, the universe vast and infinitely boundless. Ten thousand stars hung high above me, the sun and moon passing through me. The North Star Nebula stretched endlessly, the South Star's bright light flickered. Beneath the myriad constellations, Qing Ling and the universe exchanged a glance. It was the result of eleven Yuanhui of desolate travel, the expectation of eleven Yuanhui of ages, the emotion of the heart's direction for eleven Yuanhui. Ten thousand stars reflected in his eyes, his gaze encompassing the cosmic river in an instant, his gaze filled with the hope of ages.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit smoothly emerged. A vast, round moon faced Taiyin. In the universe, that vast, round moon was like a world of light, white as snow, dazzling as light. The moon of heaven finally mirrored the moon of man. The white python from Qing Ling's sleeve emerged, transforming into a river a million feet long, vast as the sea, with roaring waves, endless moon essence, and the bright moon hanging high. The moon rises above the sea, and heaven and man share this moment. Endless Taiyin moon essence poured down. Qing Ling's one million years of moon essence gathered and contracted. The white python transformed into a bridge, suspended between the two ends of the sky, one end reaching Taiyin, the other paving the path beneath his feet, inviting the honored guest to journey far to the moon.